Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Shah Alam: Malaysian side Selangor revived their hope of reaching the Round of 16 in the AFC Cup with a 3-1 victory over Vietnamese side Sai Gon Xuan Thanh on Tuesday.
Selangor trailed Sai Gon by six points before the match after they had suffered a 2-1 loss in Ho Chi Minh City last week but a magnificent free-kick by Michal Kubala gave them an early lead at the Shah Alam Stadium.
The home side had to weather heavy pressure from the visitors with goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee making some fine saves to preserve their advantage before goals by Francis Forkey Doe and Amri Yahyah put them 3-0 up.
Moses Oloya pulled back a goal for Sai Gon with nine minutes left but it was little more than a consolation for the Vietnamese outfit, who slipped three points behind Group H leaders East Bengal of India, who beat Tampines Rovers 2-1 earlier on Tuesday.
Selangor had managed only one point from their first three games but they settled quicker on a wet evening in Shah Alam and took the lead with a spectacular strike by Kubala.
The Slovakian lined up a free-kick more than 30 metres away from the Sai Gon goal but his venomous strike curled magnificently past goalkeeper Bui Tan Truong into the left corner of net.
Selangor dominated the early exchanges but Sai Gon gradually got a foothold in the match and went close to levelling the score just before half-time when Sharbinee made a couple of fine saves to deny the Vietnamese club.
Sharbinee continued to keep Sai Gon at bay in the second half and he twice denied Nguyen Duc Linh, stopping the midfielder as he sought to get on the end of an Emeka Oguwike cross and then making an excellent save to turn aside his point-blank header.
Sai Gon would pay for their profligacy as the home side padded their lead. They made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute when Amri Yahyah laid the ball off for Doe to fire home a magnificent low shot from just inside the Sai Gon box.
And the Selangor forward got on the scoresheet himself nine minute later when he chipped the ball past Bui Tan Truong from the edge of the box.
There was still time for Oloya to make it 3-1 with a smart finish in the 80th minute but Selangor held on to secure a memorable win.
Selangor coach Irfan Bakti was delighted with the result, which kept Selangor in the hunt for the Round of 16 as they moved three points behind Sai Gon but with a superior record in the head-to-head matches between the teams.
“Before the game, I told the players that while our chances in this competition are slim, anything can happen in football but the most important thing is to play for their pride especially in front of our fans,” he said.
“I thought that in our last two games against Tampines Rovers at Shah Alam and at Sai Gon, we should have been able to collect at least four points but because of lack of concentration and some mistakes by our defence, we conceded some soft goals and we didn’t get the results.
“The team performed very well last night and our goalkeeper, Sharbinee Allawee, did very well while the presence of Francis Forkey Doe in attack had a very big impact on the team.”
“Hopefully in our next game at home against East Bengal we can collect three more points and we can improve our chances of qualifying for the next round.
For Sai Gon coach Tran Tien Dai, his main regret was the absence in attack of Cameroonian striker Nsi Amougou, who was unable to travel to Malaysia.
“It was a big disappointment for us that he was not available to travel here because he didn’t have a visa. That was one of the reasons for our defeat,” he said,
Photo: WSG